Planning scheme changes in Logan equal changes for ECEC developers

Two new ‘use’ codes covering healthcare services and early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres in, or near, residential areas in Logan, a suburb of Queensland, may impact those who are wishing to build or develop ECEC services in the area as a result of changes proposed to the Logan City Council Planning Scheme.

 

The new codes feature approval criteria that considers location, building design, traffic volumes and the impact the service or centre might have on local amenity, with the broader sweep of changes intended to create “visually appealing suburban streets with a range of housing choices,” and would not apply to any existing healthcare services or childcare centres.

 

Requirements for developers to provide a variety of lot sizes and frontage widths are among the proposed new measures that it is hoped will stimulate housing design diversity, with neighbourhoods where residents enjoy less design duplication, improved streetscapes and easier access to amenities and services.

 

Other changes include removing the ‘average lot size’ method of sub-division based on research and community feedback in last year’s Logan Housing Study, and new rules that no more than three adjoining lots would have the same frontage.

 

There are also 65 ‘operational’ changes proposed to the Planning Scheme, many of which address issues raised by the community.

 

These include:

 

• New erosion and sediment control requirements to better manage the impacts of construction and minimise disturbance for neighbours
• Recycled concrete can be used in the construction of new roads, minimising environmental impact
• Removing the need for road-facing retaining walls to have coloured or textured finishes

 

• Limiting the number of shipping containers permitted on a property
• Expanding waste management requirements to ensure waste storage and collection does not impact residential amenity, including the option of communal bins in multi-dwelling developments
• Amendments to implement Council’s employment lands strategy which includes precincts of preferred land use within mixed zones and the optimisation of industrial zoned land to support jobs growth 

 

“These changes close loopholes that some developers have been using for years to increase their profits at the expense of our community,” Planning Chair, Deputy Mayor Jon Raven said.

 

The proposed changes to the Planning Scheme were presented at Committee earlier this week and will now go to the next Ordinary Council meeting (Wednesday, April 28) to be adopted. The changes then must be ratified by the Queensland Government.